Clothes-pounder



(No Model.)

C. A. SNOW.

CLOTHES POUNDER. No. 597,333. Patented Jan. 11, 1898 U ITED STATES PATENT CHARLES A. SNOW, OF LIME SPRlNGS, IOlVA.

CLOTH ES-POUNDER.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 597,333, dated January 11, 18 98.

Application filed June 12, 1896. Serial No.695,382. lllomodcl.)

To @513 whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. Snow, a citizen of the United States, residing atLime Springs, in the county of Howard and State of Iowa, have invented a new and useful Clothes-Founder, of which the following is a specification. r

The invention relates to improvements in clothes-pounders.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of clothes-pounders and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient one, capable of enabling clothes to be rapidly and thoroughly washed at the expenditure of a minimum amount of labor and without injuring the fabrics.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clothes-pounder constructed in accordan ce with this invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective view illustrating the construction of the bottom thereof. Fig. 3 is a central vertical sectional view. Fig. 4c is a detail sectional view illustrating the construction of the short vertical tubes at the top of the conical shell.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawlugs.

1 designates a cone constructed of sheet metal and provided at its top or apex with an opening in which is arranged a central tubular stem 2, adapted to receive in its upper portion a suitable handle. lVithin the lower portion of the cone or conical shell 1 is secured an imperforate diaphragm or partition 8, disposed substantially horizontally and having a slight inclination from its periphery to the tubular stem 2, which is vertically disposed and which is provided at the upper face of the casing or diaphragm with openings 2 to permit the escape of any water collecting in the conical shell. The imperforate diaphragm or partition extends entirely across the space between the conical shell and tubular stem and completely closes the space at a point below the openings 2. The conical shell is provided with an annular groove 1,

forming an exterior bead and receiving the outer edge of the diaphragm orpartition 2 and providing a support for the same.

It has been found by experience that it is almost impossible to 7 construct a clothespounder in which during the. operation of washing water will not be forced into the interior of the same, and if means are not provided for the drainage of the clothes-pounders this water will rust the parts, which will be rapidly eaten away, thereby weakening or destroying the clothes-pounder. At the top of the conical shell are mounted short vertical tubes 4, open at the top and bottom, ar-

ranged adjacent to the, hollow stem 2, and

adapted to admit air to permit the water to drain rapidly from the interior of the clothes pounder. These short vertical tubes, which depend slightly within the conical shell, are preferably substantially U-shaped in crosssection, being secured at their vertical edges to the outer face of the hollow stem. A shield or cap 5, which is concavo-convex, may, if desired, be employed to protect the tubes 4, and when it is used it is secured to the tubular stem at a point above the upper ends of the tubes 4:. This shield or cap, which extends over the upper ends of the tubes, will'prevent any liability of water contained within the conical shell being thrown upward into the face of the operator.

The clothes-pounder is provided at its bottom, in the space between the lower portion of the conical shell and the lower end of the law bular stem, with a tapering ring 6, V-shaped in cross-section and secured at the upper edges of-its sides to the lower face of the partition or diaphragm 8, and the apex of the tapering ring is located slightly above the lower edge of the conical shell. The annular spaces between the tapering ring and the lower portion of the tubular stem and the conical shell are divided by radial webs or flanges 7, which are secured at their outer terminals to the shell and at their inner terminals to the stem and are provided at intermediate points with V- shaped notches to receive the tapering ring.

During the operation of washing, the air collecting in the lower portion of the pounder, below the diaphragm or partition 3, is forced into the clothes, and the latter, by the agitation of the water through the operation of the of a minimum amount of labor.

pounder, are rapidly and thoroughly cleaned Without injuring them and at the expenditure Also, on the upstroke air will be admitted into the tubes 4 and will cause any water collecting in the lower portion of the hollow stem to flow freely therefrom.

It will be seen that the clothes-pounder is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in con-V the conical shell, at the bottom of thedrainopenings, and closing the entire space between the conical shell and the tubular stem and being imperforate between the said parts to exclude water from the conical shell, said partition or diaphragm having a slight inclination from its periphery to its center to cause any water Within the conical shell to drain through the tubular stem, the short tubeslocated at opposite sides of the tubular stem and extending into the conical shell at the top thereof, and a shield or cap mounted on the tubular stem and located above the upper ends of the tubes, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have heretoaffixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

CHARLES A. SNOW'.

Witnesses:

C. N. FLAGLER, S. R. CRAY. 

